Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 24 July 2018
1215. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation the number of Science Foundation Ireland, SFI, funded research centres that will be defunded between 2018 and 2021, inclusive; the criteria used to justify their defunding; the locations of same; and the name of each specific centre. [32655/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraAll SFI awards are for a defined duration. In the case of SFI Research Centres this is for a period of 6 years. There is no automatic renewal of funding. It is envisaged that all current awards will finish at the end of their term. SFI has committed to honouring any industry contracts or agreed PhD funding that extends beyond the award period.
SFI Research Centres awards are made following a rigorous international peer review and evaluation process. These major funding awards link scientists and engineers in partnerships across 19 research bodies, including all seven universities, and 328 companies in Ireland. The current start dates, completion dates and Research Body (location) for existing SFI Research Centres are outlined in the table below.
Each SFI Research Centre undergoes a rigorous international expert review process for their scientific excellence, impact to the economy and outreach to the Irish public on a 2-year basis.
The first review at year 2 is advisory and if progress is unsatisfactory may result in the reduction in the funding allocated to the Centre; this has not happened to any Centre to date.
The second international review and site visit takes place at year 4. At this stage the Centres are invited to submit a new proposal for further funding for six-years commencing at the end of their original award. The international site review panel reviews progress to date and the international competitiveness of the proposed new six-year research programme. A similar process occurs for all Centres undergoing review and re-submission.
The four-year site review and future funding proposals are assessed against the following criteria - Financial audit; Centre team, execution and delivery; Scientific research programme; Key Performance Indicators (KPIs); Impact; Educational and public engagement action plan.
The final stage in the process consists of an international oversight panel to ensure the overall quality of the review process and to review and normalise the scores of the different international panel reviews of the various SFI Research Centres. The oversight panel is charged with ranking the Centres and making the final recommendation to the SFI Executive and Board, placing the Centres in the following categories:
1. Excellent, recommend for immediate funding (subject to budget adjustments)
2. Good, but should proceed to a separate competition to be reviewed in competition against other potential centre applicants
3. Do not fund
The four-year review process and proposal for future funding for the first seven SFI Research Centres has recently been presented to the SFI Board and the Centres have been informed of the outcome. No Centre falls within the category 3 (Do not fund). The seven Centres have been given a number of weeks to communicate the outcome of the process to their staff, industry partners and other stakeholders prior to a public announcement of the outcome of the process.
A six-year review will be undertaken at the end of each Centre award and this will assess the outcome of the original research programme, the economic impact, public engagement and recommend follow-up, including the possible funding of Centres through other mechanisms.
|
Centre |
Research Bodies (location) |
Start Date |
End Date |
|
AMBER |
TCD; RSCI; and UCC |
01/06/2013 |
31/05/2019 |
|
APC |
UCC; CIT; and Teagasc |
01/06/2013 |
31/05/2019 |
|
INFANT |
UCC and RCSI |
01/06/2013 |
31/05/2019 |
|
INSIGHT |
NUI Galway; UCD; UCC; DCU; TCD; Tyndall National Institute; Maynooth University; and RIA |
01/07/2013 |
30/06/2019 |
|
IPIC |
Tyndall National Institute: UCC, CIT; and DCU |
01/06/2013 |
31/05/2019 |
|
MaREI |
UCC, CIT, UCD, UL, NUI Galway; and Maynooth University |
01/06/2013 |
31/05/2019 |
|
SSPC |
UL; UCD; NIBRT; AIT; TCD; UCC; WIT; and NUI Galway |
01/06/2013 |
31/05/2019 |
|
ADAPT |
UCD; DCU; TCD; DIT |
01/01/2015 |
31/12/2020 |
|
CONNECT |
TCD; CIT; Maynooth University; DIT; Tyndall National Institute; UCC; DCU; WIT; UL; and UCD. |
01/01/2015 |
31/12/2020 |
|
CÚRAM |
NUI Galway; UCC; UCD; Molecular Medicine Ireland; RCSI; UL; and TCD |
01/01/2015 |
31/12/2020 |
|
iCRAG |
UCD; TCD; Teagasc; NUI Galway; UCC, Maynooth University; and DIAS. |
01/01/2015 |
31/12/2020 |
|
LERO |
UL; DCU; NUI Galway; DKIT; Tralee IT; UCD; TCD; UL; UCC; and Maynooth University |
01/01/2015 |
31/12/2020 |
|
BEACON |
UCD; TCD; NUI Galway; and UL. |
01/10/2017 |
30/09/2023 |
|
CONFIRM |
UL, UCC, NUI Galway; CIT; Tyndall National Institute; AIT; LIT; and Maynooth University. |
01/10/2017 |
30/09/2023 |
|
FutureNeuro |
RCSI; TCD; DCU; NUI Galway and UCD |
01/10/2017 |
30/09/2023 |
|
I-FORM |
UCD; DCU; NUI Galway; TCD; IT Sligo; and WIT. |
01/11/2017 |
31/10/2023 |
